Consider standards at the start of your journey towards commercialization

Standards set a benchmark for the design and development of robust innovations. Standards are published specifications that ensure the reliability of materials, products, methods, and services people use. They are established by consensus and approved by a recognized body, such as the Standards Council of Canada. Standards are based on consolidated subject matter expertise to promote optimum community benefits.

Reaping the Benefits

With standardization, Canada’s innovations reach new heights globally and at home. Since standards reflect the views of individuals who develop them, they help innovators shape their industry, access new markets, raise the bar, and create a legacy.

Innovators also achieve commercialization through standardization, allowing them to scale up their companies, reduce development cost, and increase revenue. Other benefits include:

• Drive innovation and improve productivity
• Influence marketplace rules
• Secure market access
• Protect and exploit intellectual property

Innovators can further benefit from the relationship between standards and their intellectual property by participating in standards development. Protected intellectual property can be embedded into standards and enhance a company’s competitive advantage. For more information, check out the IP-standards factsheet.

Our success is Canada’s success…

Our goal to deliver 63 standardization strategies by 2022 is well underway, with 36 strategies already delivered to help Canadian innovators on the road to success. 59% of the companies we’ve worked with have already reported an increase in either exports, jobs, or revenue as a direct result of their engagement with SCC. We have dedicated more than $1.9 million in funding to implement standardization strategies for Canadian companies and facilitated the participation of 49 Canadian innovators on national and international technical committees to ensure our nation’s interests are represented in developing new standards. 

Additionally, SCC has been able to use the program to leverage the standardization network to join Canada’s Plan to Mobilize Industry to Fight COVID-19. These efforts range from advancing more Canadians’ participation in personal protective equipment (PPE) standardization committees, to facilitating standards development for better health data sharing.

For more about our progress, read our Interim Report.